Panda seems to have a bee stalker friend – it’s huge and apparently obsessed with his window. Or maybe it’s trying to tell us something with its dance…

When Panda and I had the fortune of staying at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey for a few days, I was excited to document the experience. Here are some of the highlights from that stay; click on pics for the full size.

A fancy and cool take on the "Do Not Disturb" sign - California Dreamin' (makes me wonder what they have for outside the state).

They've branded their own water!

Whether you like your hot drinks in the room or to go, they've got you covered.

Yum, Ritz-Carlton chocolates.

Sitting enjoying the silky couch and pillow.

A nice fancy iHome alarm clock was playing soothing music when we entered.

They had a nice display of all the things you'd need in the restroom.

Oooh, a fancy glass scale! I was afraid of breaking it when I stepped on - it just seemed so fragile.

Hmmm, now what do you need a phone for while in the restroom?

Should I be surprised that the toilet paper got branded too?

What a beautiful morning and a spectacular view overlooking the marina!

Looking inland towards downtown, you get a pretty great view as well.

They've got an awesome saltwater pool and hot tub. If water can be more slippery than itself, that's what it feels like.

The cleaning people usually leave my pillow and baby panda like this on the bed when they make it.

I couldn't resist going for a quick swim in their pool. It felt so comfortable!

In the morning as you leave, you'll find a newspaper hanging from your door handle.

My, how time flies when you’re enjoying yourself!  In my first week of scheduling freedom, I have started most days around 8:30-9 in the morning, when I wake up naturally.  I then spend the morning whiling away time enjoying an episode of The Voice or some Plants vs. Zombies gaming action.  Around noon, I packed up and headed out in search of places where I could sit and read or go online while enjoying the sunshine.  Sometimes I ended up hanging out in my car and oftentimes I found myself driving around to various parts of LA – Culver City, Santa Monica, Westwood…

I filled up my tummy for lunch, then spent the afternoons first online, then reading through the first book I plan to cross off my reading list: Switch.  Before I knew it, 5 o’clock would roll around and Panda would get back from work to find I wasn’t around.  I’d head back to meet up with him for a brief break to decide where to eat and off we’d go.  By 9 or 10 we’d be back for the night, winding down the day.  All in all a very relaxing and leisurely schedule for me!  Perhaps because it was so nice, it went by in a blur and suddenly I find myself at the end of the week wondering where all the days went.  Luckily, I now have the weekend to enjoy and more weeks of working online and reading offline to look forward to.

I like to tease Panda about his photography skills because his pictures usually come out blurry. Here is one such case where he took a picture, which looks kind of cool, but doesn’t exactly show you what it is we were trying to capture… (though now that I look at it from afar you can kind of tell it’s a bird). Click on the pictures for larger views!

This is Panda's idea of a good shot, which is great if you're trying to get branches and not the bird.

This is my idea of a picture in focus. Less artistic but you know what the subject is!

It’s Sunday night and for the first time in over two years, I won’t be joining the rest of the work force as they begin another work week tomorrow.  It’s a peaceful feeling, to be able to sleep when I want to and not worry about waking up at a particular time.  I’m excited to be able to wake up tomorrow and realize that I don’t need to drag myself up at the crack of dawn to drive for two hours just to get to work.  It’ll take some getting used to, since I even woke up yesterday thinking that I might be late for something.

For the next week, I have tasked myself with two very simple things: pack and read.  Panda’s in town so I’ll be hanging out with him at night.  While he’s at work I’ll need something to do, so it’s a perfect time to get some reading in.  My reading list is full of awesome texts and I look forward to everything these books have to teach me.  Being able to do it by the pool, at the beach, or in a dessert/drink shop makes it all the more amazing.  I’m pretty thrilled to spend my days with less structure and more go with the flow choices.  Hopefully it will inspire a lot of creativity and productivity too!

It’s been nearly a year since Panda left to work on the east coast and we’ve been very fortunate to be able to see each other almost monthly.  I always knew our relationship would be fine despite the distance and I’m glad that it wasn’t as hard as I feared it might be.  Still, it’s challenging and I’m looking forward to the day when I don’t have to wish we lived together.

For now, we keep all lines of communication open, ranging from text messages and IMs to phone calls and Skype video messaging.  I think that video chatting is a critical piece to making a long-distance relationship work.  Being able to see and hear each other when you can’t be near each other is invaluable.  It’s so much easier to express yourself and bond that way.  Even something as simple as showing each other what we’re eating becomes a rewarding experience.

In fact, Panda and I often get on Skype and don’t talk to each other.  We don’t need to!  Just being able to look over and see what the other person is doing is comforting.  We’ve both got our separate things to do, but that doesn’t mean we can’t share our time as well.  A lot of people don’t seem to understand that and have been perplexed by our decision to sit on Skype without actively talking most of the time.  I think they’ve just got to try it!

Of course, nothing beats being there in person, so still we wait for the day when that is the norm…

In honor of Panda’s birthday, let’s enjoy this eye candy! Too bad we can’t have another box. Whoever thought of covering strawberries in chocolate is genius.

Last time I was leaving Dulles Airport, Panda and I saw a plane coming in really low for a landing. It seemed like it might brush the trees on the way down!

Back when I was visiting Panda in DC in the summer, I came across some random interesting sights. Behold.

In case you forget what a crosswalk is for?

I never knew they had branded three-wheelers! This guy's riding in style, isn't he?

A building under renovation.

Up, up and away!